Revolution Returns
by dark-angel-yuna
Summary: Eight years after the Mariemaya crisis, the G-boys have gone their own ways. But with revolution rearing its ugly head on L4, and the arrival of a new pilot, they have no choice but to come back together and fight once more. *chapter 2 up! Who is she?*
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:  Heya all!  It DAY, your author here!  This is my new Gundam Wing fic, and it's quite a bit different than my other one.  Not much happy-go-lucky humor here.  This one's full of action, angst and romance.  I started writing this cuz a bunch of my friends were bashing on Quatre, and I didn't think it was very kewl.  He's a lot deeper than most people give him credit for.  So I wanted to show people another side to Quatre. 

One thing, though.  Please don't yell at me for making the pilots OOC.  This happens 8 years after Mariemaya, so that's enough time to change and grow . . .  And I suck at spelling.  Forgive me if I spell anything wrong, like Maganac . . .

Newayz, I hope you people like.

**Disclaimer**:   No, folks, I don't own Gundam Wing, anything from it, yada yada.  Even though I wish I owned my Shinigami, but I guess you can't have everything.  I do own characters not in the anime, though.  The Williamson family, Alex, Kyra, Doc C, Markus, Mina, Corinna, and others that I haven't thought up at this time.  **This will be my one and only Disclaimer.  You have been warned . . .**

Now that that's over with . . .  Chapter 1 of **Revolution Returns**.

Prologue 

_It was raining on L2.  A few cars were driving down the main highway, but most chose to stay inside, sheltered from the downpour of rain._

_A red sportscar turned off the turned off the highway onto a small exit that led through a dense forest.  The driver, a tall man with chocolate brown hair and green eyes, turned to his two children in the backseat, who were mildly bickering.  The older, a boy of eighteen, strongly resembled his father, but had the deep blue eyes of his mother.  The younger, a girl of eight, didn't resemble her father at all.  She had her mother's long, blonde curls, but her eyes were different from both of her parents'.  She had blue-gray eyes that changed from blue to gray, depending on her mood._

_None of them noticed the unmarked black car that followed them off the highway._

_The driver slowed his car to be able to maneuver easily in the wet conditions._

_The next few moments seemed to slow down time for the young girl.  She glanced behind her to see an unmarked black car come up come up them from behind without slowing._

_"Papa!  Look!"  She pointed out the back window.  The man at the wheel swerved to the right to try and get away form the vehicle that seemed intent on hitting them.  Her older brother pulled her down on the seat, protecting her body with his from the inevitability that he knew was coming.  The front of the black car hit the corner of their red one as the driver was trying to get them safely away.  The car was propelled uncontrollably into the trunk of a large oak.  Glass flew everywhere, and the girl felt little stinging sensations in her legs._

_"Mama?"  Her mother didn't answer.  "Papa?"  She didn't hear his deep voice reassuring her.  By now, her brother's limp weight was pushing her face into the leather of the seat at an uncomfortable angle, and she was having trouble breathing.  "Markus?"  No reply came from the young man whose weight was slowly smothering her.  "Someone . . . please . . . help . . ."_

_She was becoming dizzy.  The last thing she heard before succumbing to the darkness surrounding her was the slamming of a car door, and a male voice speaking._

_"He got them.  Good.  The boss'll be pleased.  Now we'd better see if that brat is still alive."_

_/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/_

_Hours later, the girl woke up in a dark, damp room.  It had only one small window, too far up for her to try and climb to freedom, or to see out of, and a small, hard bed.  She brushed some of her hair out of her eyes, and looked at her surroundings.  "Where am I?"  Her mind drew a blank.  "What am I doing here?"  She couldn't concentrate on anything.  And her mind seemed to be empty.  She couldn't remember how she came to be here.  Or anything else, for that matter.  "Who am I?"_

Revolution Returns 

Chapter 1 

"Rashid, how many men can you spare for this?"

"As many as you need, Master Quatre," the loyal Maganac answered.

There was trouble brewing on L4.  It had been almost eight years since the last threat to the peace, when Mariemaya Kushrenada had tried to take over the world by forced, puppet to Dekim Barton.  In that time, another colony had been finished, and the Earth and Space Alliance Government had been formed.  The new government consisted of the governor and two representatives of each of the six space colonies, and seven representatives from Earth, one from each of the six inhabited continents, and one from the Sanq Kingdom.  Most of the Gundam pilots from the war had been given influential positions: Heero Yuy had been nominated as the first governor of the new L6 colony; Duo Maxwell was a representative of L2; Quatre Raberba Winner was the natural choice for governor of L4; Chang Wufei had returned to L5 and had become the governor's personal advisor for military matter, and a representative of the colony, as well; Releena Peacecraft had also managed to get the position of representative of the Sanq Kingdom.

But after almost eight years of peace under the new government, rebel groups had started to form and show themselves, especially on L4 and L6.

Quatre's extensive intelligence network had turned up information about the next strike.  The rebels intended to cross the desert to the now deserted shuttle launch base, and take it over.  Quatre believed it was so that they could attack the government's ships more easily than the mobile suit strikes they had had to use before.  It was his intention to show the rebels they couldn't win, before things got too serious.  They had a fair number of Virgo model suits, as well as Leos and Space Leos.

"What would you say if I said you and fourteen of your best?"

"Master Quatre!" Rashid exclaimed, startled.  "That's nowhere near enough!"

""By yourselves, I agree.  But did I say you were going to go by yourselves?"  Quatre gave Rashid that mischievous half smile and sparkle in his eyes that he had been seeing more and more since the end of the war.  He was suddenly apprehensive.

"Master Quatre!  Surely you can't mean . . ."

"I do.  I'm coming with you.  Don't even try to argue, I've already made up my mind."

Rashid sighed, knowing that once Quatre had made up his mind, no one could sway it.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

"Remind me why we're doing this again?"  The person who had spoken was a young woman of about twenty-four with short blonde hair that fell to just below her ears.  She leaned against the way and waited for the reply with raised eyebrows from the man who had just summoned her.

"You're doing it for the money we're paying you.  And you'd better remember that you don't get a penny of the sum unless we come out of this battle the victors," the tall redheaded man responded.

"Yes, sir," the woman replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  "But why are _you_ doing it?"

"Because that rich bastard Winner doesn't care about what happens on his own colony!  The airhead government doesn't give a damn about what us common people want!  It's all for the rich.  And they spend more time and money building more colonies than looking after their own people!" the rebel yelled passionately.

"You don't know very much, do you?" the woman stated quietly.

"What?!"

"About a quarter of the L4's budget goes towards the colony's defense and upkeep.  About another eighth goes to paying government employees.  Another eighth is used for building relations with the other colonies.  The remaining half goes straight to the people, the commoners, as you would call them.  In the eight years that Winner has been the governor, he had set up medical services for the retired, unemployed, and homeless.  He has funded many projects that build houses for the homeless, which in turn creates jobs for the unemployed.  He has lowered the cost of education, so more children can go to school and college, earn a degree and get higher paying jobs.  It also raises the literacy rate.  It's a whole big circle, and he knows it.  He's worked wonders for this colony."  Even though the blonde mercenary was still standing coolly against the wall, her face impassive, her voice grew more passionate as she proved point after point to the rebel leader.

"So?"  But he refused to let himself be beaten.  "Come, it's time to go."

"I just wanted to let you know what you were doing, that's all.  Don't come running back to me when you've realized what a big mistake you're making."  Her voice was calm and devoid of emotion once again.

"Trust me, I won't."

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

Quatre sat in the cockpit of his beloved Gundam, readjusting the seat to his now taller height, not having sat in that seat for almost eight years.

"It's been too long, Sandrock," the pilot murmured gently as he pulled down his goggles, which symbolized his position as the head of the Maganac Corps.

"Master?"  Rashid's face flickered into view in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

"Give the order to move out.  We meet the rebels in the middle of the desert.  We can't give them enough time to get to the shuttle base.  If they want to try a stunt like that, they can do it our way!"  Quatre said with a wry smile, knowing full well that the Maganac were used to fighting in similar conditions in the Arabian Desert.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

The small force of fifteen Maganac and Sandrock reached the estimated point of interception, and didn't see the rebels in sight.  A sandstorm was starting to brew, and advantage for the Maganac.

After several minutes, when Quatre was just about to remind his men to stay alert, he saw the rebel force coming over a dune.  He did a quick count: thirty-five Leos and fifteen Virgos.  Outnumbered more than three to one.  That was okay, Quatre thought, we have Sandrock to even things out.

At least, that was what he thought until he saw the last mobile suit top the dune.  He breath caught in his throat when he saw what he knew instinctively was a Gundam.  Its basic body structure was very similar to the rest of the Gundams', even though it was a full third smaller than any Gundam he had seen before.  Its armor plates were ornately decorated in a pattern that reminded him of flickering flames, in gold and a deep red that reminded him of freshly spilled blood.  Quatre gulped unconsciously, and ran an alloy scan on the mobile suit, just to check.  The results confirmed his instinct, and didn't make him happy.  It was made of Gundanium.

The next thing he did was run a heat scan.  There was the obvious form of a pilot in the cockpit, but the rest of what the heat scan turned up puzzled the governor.  There was a band of intense heat running up each of the Gundam's forearms, and an X of the same intense heat crossed the Gundam's back.  All of this information put together made Quatre's stomach sink.  He wasn't sure if he was up to such a fight after eight years without stepping in Sandrock.

"Rashid, tell the men to stay away from the Gundam at all costs.  If it makes trouble, I'll take care of it."

"Right away, Master Quatre."  Rashid hurried to carry out his orders.  Within seconds, the two forces collided in what was quickly becoming an opaque screen of sand.

Despite their lack of numbers, however, the Maganac seemed to have the upper hand.  They knew how to hide in the sand and wait for an enemy to come, noticing the tell-tale signs of movement in the mask of sand, then how to effectively take out a suit with one well placed blow.

Quatre, on the other hand, rushed straight into the midst of the suits, pressed on by a rush of adrenaline that he hadn't felt in this magnitude for almost eight years.  He ignored the lasers that hit his Gundam repeatedly as he swiped his heat shotels through the Leos and Virgos.  As the thrill of battle raced through his body, he found himself enclosed by a ring of Leos.  He ducked beneath the laser saber of one, swinging his shotel with ease through the metal of the mass produced suit, only to turn and find himself pressed on three sides.  He brought his twin shotels around in a circle, cutting through the two outside Leos like butter, and finishing his move with a cross swipe through the remaining suit.

As the explosions died away, Quatre found himself thinking about the Gundam he had seen.  He hadn't seen it at all during the fight.  He scanned the battlefield quickly, as much of it as he could see, and was surprised to catch sight of it standing by a couple of Leos that were preparing to fire upon the back on an unsuspecting Maganac.  He breath caught in his through as he saw it unsheathe two sabers that appeared to be made of fire.  Those must have been what caused the X of heat across its back, Quatre found himself thinking, even as he knew that one of his soldiers was about to be destroyed.  He tensed as he saw the strange Gundam swing the twin sabers . . .  Then his eyes widened as he saw that it was the two Leos, and not the Maganac, that exploded in a burst of flame.

"What is he doing?  Is he crazy?  He just saved the life of one of my men . . ."  Quatre pondered the situation aloud, forgetting momentarily the fight around him, and the mild sparking of his system, showing the amount of damage he had already taken.

But his wandering mind cost him as he was hit on three sides by laser fire from Virgos.  Before he had time to react, he was hit by another round, his Gundam sending out spark violently in protest.  He knew that if he took much more fire, then he would be out of commission.  He turned his Gundam around to face his attackers.  As he did, he saw a silver and red blur streak past him.  There was an explosion on his left, and soon after, another on his right.  He looked around, trying to figure out what happened.

Again, his distraction with his surroundings cost him dearly.  He turned his attention back to the remaining Virgo just in time to see another laser heading straight for him.  He knew he couldn't avoid it; Sandrock was too slow.  Instead, he braced himself for the hit, hoping that this laser wouldn't fry his circuits so much that he couldn't fight anymore.

He heard the sound of laser making contact with metal, but no danger signals went off in Sandrock's cockpit.  Quatre cautiously opened his eyes, only to find the unfamiliar Gundam standing in front of his.  Almost the whole of its right side was sparking violently, badly damaged.  There were even parts where the sheet metal had been torn away, leaving wires exposed.  It took Quatre a moment to realize that this strange Gundam had taken the hit for him, and had received extensive damage for it.

Quatre heard a man's voice emanating from the Virgo.  "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I told you, you're making a huge mistake."  Quatre was amazed to hear the voice from the Gundam was female.  She advanced menacingly on the Virgo, holding out her fire saber with her good left arm.  The Virgo hastily put up its shield, and backed slowly away.  It seemed the man inside gave an order to retreat, because the few, battered, remaining Leos and Virgos disappeared back into the desert.  The sandstorm had subsided, and the sun was now shining brightly.

Quatre checked in with Rashid as he moved his goggles to perch on the top of his head.  "Rashid, how many did we lose?"  He asked the question that he never wanted to hear the answer to.

"Two," came the grim reply.  "Kazeem and Mahmir."  Quatre rubbed his temples to try and keep the tears he felt rising in his eyes from falling onto his cheeks and down his face.  The Maganac were everything their name suggested to the governor of L4: they were his family.

He only seemed to remember the unnamed Gundam when its legs collapsed beneath it, and it fell to its knees before falling onto its side, letting the girl fall limply out of the cockpit and onto the scorching sand.  Quatre gasped in concern for the woman before opening his own cockpit and taking the cable down.

He jumped the last three feet to the sand, and ran over to the woman who had very possibly saved his life.  Her short, sun kissed blonde hair was strewn over the sand, and stuck to her face where it landed in a trail of blood that was flowing without inhibition from a wound in her forehead.  Quatre knelt beside her and gently took her in his arms.  He noticed that her right arm was also badly wounded; a deep gash that ran across her upper arm was freely bleeding.  Quatre knew that without professional help, her chances of healing properly would be slim to none.

He lightly brushed her hair out of her face, and tried to mop some of the blood off her face with his shirtsleeve before talking quietly to her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The girl's eyes flickered open, and Quatre found himself staring into the depths of her eyes, green into blue-gray.  "Isn't that kind of a stupid question when you think about it?" the woman asked weakly.  The left side of her mouth turned up in a half smile.  "I thought the great Governor Winner would have something more intelligent to say."  Her voice held no trace of sarcasm.  She tried to move, but had to stop as she winced at some inner pain, and started coughing.

"Hold still and be quiet, or else you'll just make it worse for yourself," Quatre coaxed the young woman softly.  She complied, and fell still in his arms, knowing that he was right.  Quatre could see the girl's eyes losing focus, and she spoke up again.

"Isn't it amazing how people will fight so passionately about something they don't know about?"  Quatre acknowledged her statement with a grim smile as she slipped into unconsciousness.

He slipped his arm under her knees and gently lifted her still form, resting her head against his chest.  He carried her carefully back to his Gundam, where he set her down and contacted Rashid.

"Make sure someone comes back for her Gundam.  I'm sure we can get it repaired.  And there must be something we can do with all this metal."

"Yes, Master Quatre," the loyal Maganac answered.

With that, Quatre and the remaining Maganac headed towards the Winner mansion.

Author's Note:  There we go!  I really hope you people likey!  Please review and tell me EXACTLY what you think.  What you guys say is my only feedback on how I'm writing.  If you want to flame, try and find at least one thing constructive to say . . . please . . .

If you want to talk about what you want to happen (not promising anything there,) or if you just want to chat, email me at drk_angl_yuna@hotmail.com.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:  Heya all!  I'm back, and ready for action!  Okay, so that was a little stupid . . .  Blame the Mountain Dew.  Not my fault, I swear! 

Newayz, I have survived my Freshman year!  WHO-HOO!  And I made it through the evil finals!  Yes!

Oh boy, my sister has six of her psycho friends over, even more psycho than me.  I mean, I went downstairs (the war zone) to play Final Fantasy V for a while, ya know, try and figure out what I need to do next . . .  Before I was down there for 5 seconds, I was bombarded by balls of all shapes and sizes.  I'm assuming that those were the grenades.  I survived less than 5 minutes before giving up and returning to No Man's Land (my room and the computer room).  And now my sister's a teenager . . .  *shudders*  I'm not the only one anymore . . .  This means I need to share my turf . . .  NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Okie, I'm done rambling.  Time to brave the psycho seven for the sake of cake and ice cream . . .  I hope it's worth it . . .

Oh, and Niko, don't worry.  You're introduced to most of the main characters, mainly the GW boys, in this chapter.  I still have 3 very important OC's to introduce, but technically, one's been introduced already . . .

Enjoy chapter 2!   ^_^

Chapter 2 

A young man of twenty-four rolled behind a crate, a bullet barely missing his body.  His dark brown hair was shorter than it had been eight years ago, only reaching just below his shoulders, and was tied back behind his head.  He pulled off his baseball cap and pulled out his loaded gun.

"Come on, Duo," he muttered to himself, "it's time to kick some ass!"

He jumped abruptly out from behind the crate, gun at the ready to fire at anyone who posed a threat.  He heard a phone ring faintly in the background, then a voice came through a speaker.

"Yo, Maxwell!  You have a call!  Governor Winner says he has to see you right away!"

Duo swore.  "Tell him I'll be up in a minute!" he yelled back as the simulation faded, and the room turned back to its neutral gray.  He grabbed his hat from the floor on his way out, and set the special laser gun used for such simulations on the counter by the videocom.  Even though he was annoyed about being interrupted while he was training, he still managed to put on a smile for his friend that he hadn't seen for months while he was on an undercover mission on Earth.

"Heya, Quatre!  What's with the face?" he asked as soon as he saw the anxiety etched on the governor's visage.

"We have a problem.  A big one.  All the guys are coming over to my place.  I need to here too.  You've got two hours to get over here."  Judging by the look on his face and the tone of his voice, Duo guessed that he really did have a problem.  And 'the guys' could only mean their fellow comrades in battle eight years ago.  For Quatre to risk getting them all together at his place, something had to be seriously wrong.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes," he promised, and closed the connection.

How did I get myself into this one? he asked himself as he quickly left the covert Preventors training base.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

All five of the Gundam pilots and Sally Po were sitting in the main meeting room of the Winner mansion.  Quatre hushed the reunion chatter and started to talk.  He directed his first statement to Sally.

"There's a young woman upstairs.  I want you to check her wounds and do whatever you need to do to get her healed as quickly and efficiently as possible.  She was badly hurt in a battle early this afternoon.  I got a local doctor to give her basic treatment, but to be quite frank, there's no one else in the medical field I trust as I trust you.  She's on the second floor, second door on the right.  You'll get an explanation later."  When Sally looked at him questioningly, he responded, "Just trust me on this one, okay?"  She looked at him for a moment, then nodded curtly and left.

Duo was trying to cover a snigger.  "So, Quatre has a woman in the house."  He wiggled he eyebrows suggestively.

Quatre exhaled heavily.  "Let me explain . . ."  But he was cut off by Duo before he could say another word.

"So you don't deny it!"

Quatre sat down on a chair and rubbed his temples.  "Look, Duo, will you just shut up?  I feel another migraine coming on, and the last thing I need right now are your crude comments," he said icily.

"I was only joking . . ." Duo mumbled, hurt.

Heero's arms were crossed against his chest.  "So what did you call us here for?  Does it have to do with that woman?"

"Partly.  A large part.  But there's something else I'm concerned about.  I, personally, think that the ESA should be aware of just how serious the situation's become, at least here on L4.  What I'm talking about is the problem with the rebels.

"They've been striking more and more, and lately have been striking at important sites and equipment for the government.  And not just your simple run-of-the-mill strikes either.  They're going full frontal, full force, and with mobile suits.  They've even gone so far as to attack shuttles coming back and forth from our main resource satellite.  And they've been organizing peaceful protest that I can't do anything to stop, just as if to say, 'Ha ha!  You can't do anything!' "  He sighed before reaching into a drawer beside him and pulling out a bottle of painkillers.  He popped a couple in his mouth, and swallowed them without water, as he had become accustomed to doing lately.  He threw the bottle in the drawer and closed it before continuing.

"How's the situation of L6, Heero?  If it's anywhere near as bad as here, I think that we could very soon find ourselves in the middle of a revolution."

"Honestly, Quatre," Heero responded quietly, "I think you're overreacting.  The situation doesn't seem near as bad as you make it out to be."  Quatre could tell by the looks on the others' faces that they had the same opinion as well.

"Well, I guess you could be right.  It's been the first real opposition to the new government in eight years.  I might be blowing it all out of proportion."  He didn't sound so sure.

"Trowa?"  Quatre addressed the circus performer who had remained silent.  "You travel with the circus.  I'm sure you hear a lot of rumors about this sort of thing.  What have you heard?  Have you heard anything about why the rebels are surfacing now, who's leading them, or why they seem to be centered on L4 and L6?"

Trowa shrugged in response.  "Sure, there are always rumors.  Which ones do you want to hear?  The one that says the leaders are devil worshippers who want total anarchy?  Or the one that says the rebels are saviors sent by God to save us from the time bomb that is the ESA?  There are a million others, each as unlikely as the rest.  You can say just about anything about it and get away with it."

"My guess," Wufei spoke up, "is that this 'Rebel Party,' or whatever they call themselves, is made up of a mixture of the activists that truly don't believe in the ESA, and pacifists."

"But that's crazy!" Duo exclaimed.  "Why are the pacifists speaking up?  There hasn't been a big conflict for eight years!  They're getting their peace!"

"If you'd let me finish . . ."  Wufei shot a cold glare Duo's way.  "That's why I believe there are more groups on L4 and L6.  The governors of those colonies were once Gundam pilots.  There are fewer groups on L2 and L5 where the presence of Duo and myself is only as an ambassador.  There are next to no groups on L1 and L3, where there is no Gundam pilot, at least officially, in power."

"Then why is it so much worse here than on L6?" Quatre questioned, the pieces finally starting to come together.

"You are much more lenient with the people of your colony, and Heero is much stricter with the inhabitants of L6.  Therefore, people believe they are freer to speak out here, one L4."

"And it finally makes sense!"  Duo was relieved to finally understand the situation.

"Quatre, that doesn't explain what that woman has to do with anything," Heero said in a tone that was firm and expected answers.

Quatre cleared his throat.  "Yes, well . . . her appearance is what worries me the most."

One of Heero's eyebrows lifted.  "Explain."

"My men had intercepted plans for a full-out strike, mobile suits and all, on a shuttle base in the middle of the desert.  So I went out with a few of my best men to incept them.  This girl came with them, as a pilot."  Quatre took a deep breath before continuing.  "But the remarkable thing about this woman was that she was piloting a Gundam."

"What?!"  Duo jumped to his feet.  "How did the rebels get ahold of a Gundam?  We all have ours hidden away somewhere, and Releena keeps Epyon under lock and key.  The only other thing that even comes close to a Gundam's power is the Tallgeese, but Zechs disappeared with that suit eight years ago!"

"Sit down, Duo, and let Quatre finish," Wufei said, exasperated.  Duo complied, then waited in silent expectation to hear the answer he was looking for.

"It was a new model.  I've never seen anything like it before.  It was much smaller than our Gundams, but its speed was exceptional, faster than Epyon and Deathscythe.  The way it could attack was amazing, but conversely, its defensive capabilities were only marginally better than the Epyon and Tallgeese.  It took one straight shot from a Virgo, and was almost unable to fight."

"I still have a couple unanswered questions," Heero said, skeptically.  "If its speed was as good as you're implying, then it shouldn't have taken a direct hit from a Virgo.  If the pilot is good enough to worry you, that is.  And that still doesn't explain why she's upstairs."

"I'm not really worried about the pilot, per se . . .  I'm more worried about what the rebels are managing to hide form us.  From what I gathered, she was working as a mercenary, and if they can get enough cash to pay for the rather exuberant prices that a Gundam pilot would charge . . ."

"Wait a minute," Trowa cut in.  "You said you weren't worried.  Why not?  A fighter with no loyalties is much more dangerous than one that commits to one side or another."

Quatre sighted.  "If you'd let me finish, I would have explained all that.  Even though she seemed to be working as a mercenary, she never attacked any of my men.  Indeed, she saved more than a few of them.  And the reason she took that direct hit, Heero, is that she was . . ."  Quatre paused for a minute, as if thinking about his next words for a moment.  "She was saving me . . .  That's why she's upstairs.  She was badly hurt by that blast.  The least I could do in return was help her.  Besides, I want to know more about her, and she could be a very valuable ally, if we could persuade her to join our side, wouldn't you agree?"

Duo's head bobbed up and down vigorously, while Trowa's moved slower, as if he was still not quite sure.  Heero lowered his head once, and Wufei didn't move at all.  They sat in silence, each pondering the situation in their own way.  Heero didn't look convinced; Wufei looked skeptical; Trowa looked curious about this girl and this strange twist of fate; Duo just looked bored.  He had already agreed, and was probably daydreaming about some woman.

After about a minute or so of the oppressing silence, Quatre stood up and started to leave.

"Do I even need to ask where you're going?"  Trowa knew his friend well enough to know that the thing that was eating at his mind was the welfare of the currently unnamed woman.

"You can come if you want.  She might not even be awake, though.  She hasn't been ever since the fight."  Trowa nodded, taking up Quatre's offer, and rose from his chair.

"What about me?" Duo inquired.  "Can I come too?"  Quatre half smiled and waved him over.  Duo practically jumped out of his seat and joined Trowa and Quatre at the door.  Quatre gave Heero a questioning look, asking him silently if he and Wufei wanted to come along as well.

Heero and Wufei shared a look, and Wufei gave a slight, almost imperceptible, shake of his head.  "We'll come later," Heero replied.

Quatre guessed that they wanted to talk about the situation without anyone else listening.  "Remember where it is?" he asked, playing along.  They both nodded the affirmative.  "Okay then.  See you later."

With that, Quatre led Duo and Trowa to the room where the mysterious pilot was.

/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/*-*/

The young woman awoke to find her head throbbing and her vision slightly blurred.  She saw a middle-aged woman sitting on a chair next to her.  Her vision cleared, and she saw that the woman had long brown hair in twisted braids.  She tried to sit up in bed, but groaned and slumped back down when the pain in her head became unbearable, and her arm felt like it had been immersed in liquid fire.

"Don't move.  It'll only make it worse," said the woman sitting on the chair beside her.  "I'm Sally Po, by the way.  Quatre asked me to look after you.  There are stitches in your arm, but nothing apart from that bandage on your head, so I would be careful what you do.  You don't want to break that wound open again, do you?"

The young pilot stared into Sally's eyes before asking her a question.  "Where the hell am I?"  Sally laughed at her blunt attitude.

"In the Winner mansion."

"What?!"  The young woman sat bolt upright in bed in shock before she clutched her head and laid back down in bed.  She couldn't have looked more surprised if someone had told her that Christmas was in July this year.  "Doctor Po, would you kindly tell me how I got here?"

"I'm afraid I don't know myself.  You'll have to ask him yourself when he comes up.  So," Sally changed the subject, "how do you feel?"

"My head hurts, and my arm too."

"No shit, Sherlock."

The blonde woman laughed before getting serious.  "Okay, I guess.  Been better, been worse.  I don't feel like I'm going to upchuck all the food I've eaten in the last twenty-four hours, if that makes you feel any better."

Sally laughed despite herself.  There was something about this young woman that she liked.  "You know, I don't know your name."

"Call me Alex.  Alex Summerton."

"Alex," said Sally, pondering over the name.  "It suits you."

"I think so too."

Before Sally could open her mouth to say another word, there was a knock on the door.  Quatre's voice came softly through the wood.  "Sally?"

"Come in.  She's awake."

The door opened, and three young men, all about the same age, walked in.  Alex already recognized Governor Winner, and she thought the one about the same height with the chestnut hair tied behind his head in a small ponytail was Duo Maxwell, a representative of L2 in the ESA.  But she didn't recognize the third one.  He was a few inches taller than the other two, and his light brown hair was grown so that it covered half his face, hiding one of his emerald eyes.  His eyes met hers, and he flashed a quick smile her way.  There was something about him . . .

Quatre quickly introduced Duo and Trowa, and noticed how Alex, though still unnamed to him, seemed to be captivated by Trowa's smile.  Eventually, she pulled herself together and introduced herself.

"You guys can call me Alex.  Alex Summerton."  Almost the same line that she had given Sally.

The guys all grabbed chairs and sat around Alex's bed.  They four of them and Sally started talking about politics for a while, but Alex seemed uncomfortable with the topic, so Duo somehow managed to turn the conversation to video games and recent movies.  After a while, it was obvious that Alex was too tired to carry on.  But all throughout the conversation, Quatre noticed how Alex's eyes turned to Trowa more than was natural, traveling up and down the length of his body, as if, in some way, assessing him.

When it was time for dinner, they all left the room.  Sally left first to get a tray of food for Alex, who couldn't leave her bed, still weak from loss of blood.  Duo was next, eager to get to the source of food.  Quatre followed close behind, with a last glance at Alex and Trowa.

Trowa stared at the door until it closed.  Even after it had, he waited a few seconds before leaning forward in his chair and staring intently at Alex.  "Who are you?"

"I told you," a very confused Alex started, "I'm Alex Sum . . ."

Trowa cut her off.  "No, not that.  Who are you, really?  What's your birth name?"  He saw sudden apprehension on Alex's face, and some sort of fear in her eyes.  Not the fear of being caught, but something else.  He couldn't quite pinpoint it, but whatever it was confirmed his guess.

She looked away from his gaze before responding.  "How did you know?" she asked softly, still keeping her eyes somewhere across the room from where he was sitting.

"Just a few subtle hints.  Like the way you didn't really look at anyone when you introduced yourself.  Little things that most people overlook."

"But why did you notice?"

"Sorry, can't say really.  Not without getting some folks really mad," Trowa replied.  "But who are you?  Why won't you tell us who you really are?"

"Because, I . . ."  Suddenly, there was something very interesting on Alex's sheets.  "I don't know myself."  A single tear slipped down her face.

Alex felt Trowa's fingers under her chin as he gently tipped her head up so she was looking at him.  "I know exactly how you feel.  I'm just the same.  I can't remember any of my childhood.  I've been on the battlefield all my life.  I still don't know my true name.  What about you?"

"As far as I can remember, my life started at age eight.  I don't remember anything about what happened before that.  Even though my life's been a living hell since.  I'm dying to know who I am, and what happened before . . . well, just before.  Don't you want to know?  Don't you want to fill in that missing piece of you?"

"Sometimes.  But then again, there are some times when I just don't care."  Alex nodded, showing that she felt the same way.

"We'll help each other find out who we are," Trowa said after a few second of amiable silence.  After Alex's smile of gratitude, he stood to leave.

"Just, please, don't tell anyone.  Please . . ."

"Of course.  You'll tell them when you're ready.  No one can rush you when it comes to something personal like that."  Trowa gave Alex a quick wink and a thumbs-up before opening the door, and almost knocking over Sally, who had just returned with Alex's tray.

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Quatre ran down the hall after Duo.  "Hey, Duo!  Wait a minute!"

Duo turned and looked at his friend.  "What's wrong, Quatre?"

Quatre walked to Duo's side before he responded.  "Oh, I just wanted to apologize," he said, a slight pink tinge rising in his cheeks and ears.

"Apologize?  About what?"  Duo looked confused, but that wasn't out of the ordinary.

"About how I snapped at you a while ago.  I truly am sorry.  I've been under a lot of stress lately, what which these rebels and all.  And I lost two of my men today.  But that's still no excuse for talking out all my problems on you."  He hung his head an waited for Duo's reprimand.

He was surprised when he felt Duo drape his arm over his shoulders.  "Don't worry about it.  What else are friends for, if not to be scapegoats when something goes wrong?"

Quatre laughed despite himself.  "Duo!  That's awful!"

"I know," he replied with a quick wink, "but it made you laugh.  Now what do you say to going and getting some food?"

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Wufei waited a few seconds after the door closed before leaning forward in his chair.

"What do you think, Heero?  It all seems a little fishy to me."

Heero sat back farther in his chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"True, it does sound odd.  But still . . .  There is the possibility that it could be true.  Quatre has no reason to deceive us."

"Not Quatre, you idiot.  I'm worried about that girl.  The whole situation might have been staged.  There's a very good possibility that it was all staged so that they could get a spy in our ranks.  Think about it, Heero," Wufei continued.  "How often is it that a mercenary, a _woman_, would join the enemy in a fight?  We know nothing about that girl.  She could very well be a spy, Heero!"

"I know, but she might also be honest in her intentions.  Should we alienate a potential ally just because of your suspicions?  Sometimes you are just a little _too_ suspicious, Wufei."

Wufei sat straight up in indignation.  "Heero, the reason I am alive right now is because I am so suspicious!  Do you have any idea how hard it is being a top Preventor agent?  To me, everyone is an enemy until they prove themselves worthy of my trust.  And women all the more.  Most spies are women, you know.  'Seduce a man, and he sill tell you anything you want to know.'  That's what they've been taught."

"And so you haven't trusted any woman since your wife died?  I'm right aren't I?  That was ten years ago, Wufei.  No offense, but you have to move on."  
  


Wufei stiffened.  "Meilan died only because she was weak."  His voice was shaking.  "Women should not fight.  They will be beaten by men every time."

" 'Women may not be as physically strong as men, but they have triple the threshold for pain.  A man wouldn't be able to go through labor, something a woman is expected to do.'  Do I have to repeat the whole of Releena's lecture?  You probably know the thing off by heart.  How many times have you heard it now?  Ten?"

Wufei sighed.  "Twelve, actually.  Sometimes that woman drives me insane."

Heero rubbed his temples.  "Me too.  Well, in my opinion, I don't think that we should do anything rash until we have real proof that she's a spy.  Because she may not be, after all."

Wufei snorted.  "So we're just going to welcome her with open arms and tell her all our secrets?  What if she is a spy?  She could be sending information to the enemy right now!"

"Wufei," Heero started, consolingly, trying to calm his fellow pilot.  "Put yourself in her position.  You find yourself in the midst of strange men that you know of, but don't know.  No one seems to want to talk to you.  That seems a ridiculous waste of a possible ally, something we have far too few of nowadays.  Innocent until proven guilty, correct?"

Wufei sighed and shook his head, defeated.  "Fine, but I refuse to give her my absolute trust."

"And if she gets alienated, we'll blame you, fair?"

"Why do you always do this to me?"

"It's so easy.  And so fun.  You're too predictable."

"Yes, well, predictability is the only thing that keeps things running around here," Wufei said sulkily, mad at being cornered, again.

Just then, a bell rang, signaling dinner.

"Come on, Wufei.  I, for one, am hungry."

"Fine, but you have to sit next to Maxwell."

Author's Note:  More random insanity . . .  Not really.  Yeah, Wufei's still his woman-hating baka self, Duo's still the same old guy . . .  That's the way the world works.  So, who really is Alex?  Hm?  Any guesses?  Anyone?

Please review.  Reviews are good.

Oh, and I have chapter 3 almost completely written.  It's kind of a filler chapter, but I had a couple of scenes I wanted to put in that I didn't really want in the next chapter.  I have a couple other fics I want to update first, though.  But don't worry, it will come . . .

Newayz, mother's yelling at me . . . again.  But this time it's to get cake and ice cream, not to get off the computer . . .

Sayonara!

Oh, and if you want to chat, feel free to email me at drk_angl_yuna@hotmail.com


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